Lovely Animosity
by the-nifler's-got-my-lunch
Summary: Lily believes the universe hates her. For years, she has detested James Potter with a burning passion; so when they both discover they have to work together for much of their seventh year, she freaks. But as Voldemort rises, school life continues and Lily's hostility for James grows, so does her feelings for the messy haired sod.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all! Hope you like the story; hopefully I'll update once, maybe twice a week. This is, of course, Jily all the way and R&R! Thanks by the way to my beta Danae; thanks for listening to me talk about this way too much. **

**Chapter One: Prologue**

_"It is best to avoid the beginnings of evil." -Henry David Thoreau._

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_Day 59: At dinner with Mum, Dad, Tuney, the Pig and the Carrolls family. To put it nicely, it's not the most enjoyable activity I've ever been forced to do._

_Just three more days; just..._

"Lily, could you please put the notebook away? We're trying to eat, dear."

Lily Evans scowled as she slid her leather notebook under the table and picked up her fork. How her writing under the dinner table disrupted everyone eating, she would never know. She might have acknowledged that it was unmannerly of her to do so, if everyone hadn't of been so bloody rude to her all night.

The Carrolls were not exactly nice or entertaining dinner guests. Mr. Carroll, Lily's father's boss, was boisterous and loved talking about his four different holiday homes in America. He also droned on about his new landscaping business or something; Lily wasn't really listening.

Mrs. Carroll did not speak a word, unlike her noisy husband, but instead spent the night looking unimpressed by the quaint, cosy Evans household. When she did speak, all she would say would be something about how nice it was to be experiencing the other social classes.

Tristan Carroll, the couple's only son, had ignored Lily all night; to him, she didn't exist. Only the perfectly manicured Tuney. His eyes never left her all night. Tuney's boyfriend, Vernon Dursley, also known as the Pig, stared daggers at him and muttered something about posh twats.

For once, Lily agreed with him.

So Lily was unmistakably ignored. And plainly bored. She wished she could be seventeen and burn the roast her mother was cooking with her magic. Then they could get takeaway pizza, like they usually did on Friday nights. She wondered how long it would take the Carrolls family to run out the door screaming if she mentioned 'takeaway' or 'pizza'. Or 'magic' even.

Or maybe she could let a Nifler lose in the house. Anything at all, to escape this escape this terrible dinner travesty.

However, her sister and Vernon, or the Twig and the Pig as Lily nicknamed them so amusingly, decided they needed time alone. Well, Vernon decided. Tuney was responding a little too flirtatiously to Tristan's enamoured stares, licking her lips and tossing her bleach blonde hair over her shoulder.

So unfortunately Mr. Carroll, in a moment of insight, realised he might have talked about himself a little too much and decided to bombard Lily with questions.

"Lily, my fiery lamb, where on earth did you get that hair from?"

"What age are you Lily? My Tristan is eighteen next week. We're having a huge party and everything!"

"School starts back next week. My word, I hated school when I was your age! Where might you be attending Lily? Andrew's never mentioned where you go to study."

Lily looked at her parents, helpless. School was not a safe topic and she couldn't lie for Dumbledore's big toe. And she couldn't exactly say she attended a magical school for young witches and wizards. The Carrolls family would get her institutionalised. Plus there was the whole secrecy thing.

Her parents were equally flustered. "Well, Lily attends a boarding school," her mother stammered, her cheeks going nearly as red as Lily's hair. "It's...big and...in the countryside!" Her mother looked remarkably pleased with herself for remembering this vague information Lily had given in a moment of annoyance.

"Yes and Lily's going to be Head Girl there this year," her father said proudly, clapping Lily on the back heartily. "She gets good grades too. Her professors are very happy with her progress. Nine O.W... I mean, nine honours in her GCSEs."

Lily couldn't help but blush. Her O.W.L. results had definitely been a fluke. She was alright at potions and charms but truthfully, she was not as good as...

No. She had to stop thinking about that arrogant toerag. This was a zone free of messy haired boys.

"Professors? As in, science teachers?" Mr. Carroll looked confused.

"Biology!"

Lily had cried the word before she realised what she was doing. All the occupants at the table turned to stare at her; even Tristan Carroll acknowledged her existence.

"I mean... the one with the frogs," Lily stuttered, trying to regain her last shred of dignity. "I do that one, I mean...it's a really great subject...fascinating, really...not for the faint-hearted..."

In the awkward silence that followed, Lily looked down at her lap. She knew for certain her face was the same colour as her hair. Why did she have to be as awkward as a demiguise?

It was his fault. She was thinking about his stupid, annoying, cocky grin when Mr. Carroll had asked her...

"What is the name of this... this_ special_... school you attend?" Mr. Carroll asked as Lily's mother took away his empty, finished plate. He obviously thought she should be admitted to a mental institution.

"St. James's school for girls!" Lily gasped quickly, then clasped her hands over her mouth. Bloody hell. Her mother stared at her, probably thinking her daughter might actually be mentally insane.

Quickly excusing herself, Lily sprinted up the stairs to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her. She hoped she had not made the conversation too awkward downstairs.

Her room was, in one word, a mess. Clothes were spilling out of her wardrobe, draping over chairs, lying in bundles on the floor. Her mother had stopped trying to plead to Lily to tidy up her room after weeks of nagging. Now it looked like her dorm room in Hogwarts. Rolls of parchment were streamed almost decoratively around the room- some scribbled on, doodled on or blank. A bottle of ink was tipped over in the corner of the room, spilling its contents on the wooden floor and staining it. At least, she thought it was ink. Hopefully it wasn't her essence of dryad bark; that stuff would leave more than a stain.

Only Lily's wand looked safe to touch. It was carefully placed on her bedside dresser, next to the empty cage of her owl, Gulliver. She knew sending her faithful, tawny owl out while the Carrolls were here would prevent any mid-dinner hooting sessions. Besides, she hadn't written to Dorcas in a while.

She fell onto her to the groan of worn out springs.

"Well, that was a bloody disaster," she thought sulkily.

It was his fault, anyway. He was on her so much these days.

"It's some kind of foreshadowing," Lily decided as she rolled onto her front. "He's thought of some amazing new spell to hex me with or some new way to tease me..."

Ow.

Lily's face connected with something uncomfortable. She sat up, cupping the round object in her hands. Oh no. She knew what this object was...

_"...So you'll remember me Evans, during the long, James-free months ahead."_

_Lily held up the small object to her face almost two months ago in Kings Cross station, her eyes crossing over. "A remembrall?" Lily murmured, then looked accusingly at the messy haired boy in front of her. "Is this some sort of Potter-humour joke? Because this isn't up to your usual standard." Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "Actually wait...is that you, Black?"She then poked him in the centre of his chest. "Using polyjuice potion again? Well, haha, you got me."_

_The annoying asshat just smiled and ruffled hisfustratingly messy hair. "Later Evans. Things should be interesting next year. Maybe you'll actually go out with me." He winked and then began to walk away, only to say over his shoulder, "If it turns red, you've forgotten me Evans." Then he strode cockily away, leaving a fuming Lily yelling insults after him..._

In the past two months, the remembrall had not turned red once. To Lily, this was infuriating.

James Potter had won again. Since day one, it seemed they always competed for everything; lessons, status, they fought over everything. They even hexed each other when someone, usually James, rubbed the other, usually Lily, the wrong way. James also asked her out twenty times a day just to remind her that she was incapable of ever getting a boyfriend. Plus there was that whole thing with Severus.

But this was a new type of victory. Usually when she came home from Hogwarts, she could forget about him and his teasing. But now, everything reminded her of him; even mundane things like a newspaper or a comb-which he seriously needs to use.

James Potter was imbedded in her mind and it was making Lily insane. Not only that, she was going to have to see him again everyday for the next ten months in three days time. Lily didn't think her brain could handle it. At least she could give him detention when he hexed her now, being Head Girl and all.

"...maybe... I should stop fighting with him," Lily argued aloud. "It would make my last year more enjoyable and I would be stress free for the N.E.W.T.s. I could for once focus on D.A.D.A..."

And for no other reason.

None at all.

None.

"I do not like James Potter!" Lily screamed as loud as she could. "I don't,I don't, I don't!"

"There are other people in this house, you know!" Petunia roared from her room. "Keep the teenage angst for the freakshow!"


	2. Chapter 2 Lily Evans vs the World

**Hey everyone- here's chapter two. R&R and enjoy! Thanks again to my wonderful beta, Danae.**

**Chapter Two: Lily Evans vs. the Universe**

_"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the former." -Albert Einstein_

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For the first time ever in her whole tenure at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Lily Evans stood all alone in Kings Cross station on the 1st September.

Her parents couldn't make it; her father had successfully secured the promotion that spawned that awful dinner party and today was his first day. He couldn't miss it. Her mother had someone coming to fix their stove today and she was extremely annoyed about it. Lily had promised to write, but that didn't save her from any teary goodbyes.

So it was left to Tuney to drive Lily in stony silence to London. Lily thought maybe this was the universe punishing her for thinking strange thoughts about James Potter throughout the summer. After arriving thirty minutes away from the station, Tuney threw Lily and all her belongings out of the car.

"I'm meeting Vernon for lunch and I'm not going to be late; you can walk the rest of the way to the freakshow," Petunia sneered as she slammed the door behind her. Then she drove off at top speed, leaving Lily open mouthed and in the dust.

Luckily, Lily had purposely told Tuney that the train was at eleven instead of one. So as embarrassing as walking around the middle of London with a bird cage, a live owl and a heavy trunk was, at least she didn't have to sprint all the way to the station.

On the downside, once she reached the station, she was two hours too early.

After pushing through gangs of people trying to make the afternoon rush back to work, she made it to the wall. The wall was the barrier that connected platform nine-and-three-quarters for the Hogwarts Express to the muggle world.

She broke into a run and flung herself and her belongings full force at the wall, plunging straight through it and erupting onto platform nine-and-three-quarters. It was empty; Lily expected it to be. No one came this early, no matter how excited they were to get back to school.

One of the men who usually helped with the student's luggage-was it Arnold? No, maybe Albert- was waiting by the train, looking extremely bored. Once he saw Lily, he bounced happily toward her and enthusiastically brought her luggage onto the train.

"You might as well go shopping in the muggle station or something," Albert/Arnold advised. "Most don't come 'til about noon or so. Oh and you're badge is falling, miss."

Lily cursed herself inwardly. Only a few hours ago she had put her new Head Girl badge neatly and securely on. And now, she had nearly lost it; nearly let it drop to the floor to be trampled on. Just another reason why she should not be Head Girl.

She decided to just sit in a Muggle Cafe nearby and read her Ancient Runes textbook; she had nothing better to do. Muggles would probably think that she was some weird teenager with a slight obsession with Eygptianology or something if they looked over. Oh, and she would have to get food. Lots and lots of delicious food.

From the menu, she chose some sort of strawberry tart with vanilla cream, a lemon muffin and some blueberry pancakes lavished with maple syrup. The waitress who brought over the food looked at her funny.

"Is someone joining you here or something?" The waitress cocked her head, as if someone could be hiding behind Lily's frizzy mane of hair.

"No, just me."

The waitress looked embarrassed. "Oh... um... okay then," and rushed away. She was probably awestruck by the sheer amount of food Lily was eating. Everyone in Hogwarts knew that while Lily Evans may have no boyfriend, she is, and always will be, in a constant, loving relationship with food.

As she dug into her tart, her thoughts went once again to her new, slightly daunting status as Head Girl. It was a lot of responsibility; looking after the younger students and keeping the older ones in line. Head Girls were supposed to be role models; where as, Lily was not. She was a messy, hot-tempered, moody girl who could fly into a rage at the slightest pretence. Who also had a bitter feud with one James Potter.

Oh, and who also had a scary obsession with food.

What was Dumbledore sniffing when he chose her as Head Girl? Alright, she had been a prefect and all, but seriously? There were loads of other worthy prefects more capable than her for the job. It must be some kind of joke. Dumbledore probably chose someone more suitable for the job; someone like Marlene McKinnon or maybe even Zara Fulton and Dumbledore was just waiting to humiliate Lily in front of the...

No. Dumbledore wouldn't do that. He wouldn't. She was letting her imagination run wild again. Lily began reading her textbook, shovelling her blueberry pancakes into her mouth. Food always calmed her.

_"Isfet; the rune for chaos and evil. First used by Eygptian wizards by 4000BC..."_

More importantly, who was Head Boy? Who would she be spending a few hours each day and patrolling at night with? She hoped it wasn't a Slytherin. What if it was Severus? They barely spoke anymore, let alone spend a few minutes in each other's company. If she had to do patrols with him, she knew she would go as crazy as Argus Filch.

She hoped it would be Fabian Prewett. No, wait he was a sixth year. A good looking sixth year. Or even Remus Lupin, also known as Moony/ one-quarter of the Marauder pack/ Twit with glasses's best friend. He was actually very responsible when they were both prefects and could make Lily laugh. Plus, he shared her obsession with chocolate.

Or maybe it was the gossipy Stamford Jorkins. Or maybe...

She had finished her blueberry pancakes and moved swiftly onto her lemon muffin. She flicked through her Ancient Runes book, determined not to get herself worked up again.

_"Tas; the ancient rune for peace. One of the more controversial runes, it can also mean..."_

The cafe door slammed and a group of merry voices rang out throughout the small cafe. Lily couldn't see who walked in, as they were blocked by a large coffee maker inconveniently placed in the centre of the room. Probably second years. Second years got on everyone's nerves.

She squinted and tried to focus on runes. She would not fail any classes this year; not like last term. Has a Head Girl ever failed a class before? Maybe she would be the first.

_"Many Ancient Runes can be found in the secret passage ways of many ancient, man-made structures. Passage graves in Ireland, some of which are older than the Pyramids of Giza, seem to contain many ancient runes carved into solid rock. These runes give instructions on how to capture the quintessence of winter solstice sunlight. Stonehenge, believed by muggles to be a simple burial ground, is also..."_

"I can't believe Dumbledore trusted _you_ of all people with this... responsibility!"

Lily's ears pricked up. Black, Sirius Black. The stunningly attractive yet ultimately idiotic boy was who had walked in not moments before, probably doing something with his hair as he walked. No wait, he licked his lips as he walked. Potter ruffled his hair.

"Yeah it's responsibility...who wants that?" Definitely Peter Pettigrew's squeeky, stretched voice. "You shouldn't have accepted, mate."

"Well I could hardly bloody turn down being Head Boy, now could I?"

No. Oh no. Lily knew that voice.

"Please, in the name of Merlin's saggy third nipple, please," she thought desperately. "Don't let it be him."

But it was. Lily could not deny that James Potter was Head Boy of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was official; the universe hated her.

"Right, well, the school will be destroyed in a week," Lily grimanced, imagining Hogwarts being overrun by Lily's messiness and James's pranks. She tried to tune into the rest of the Marauder's conversation but it was hard; she was too far away.

"Personally, I think this will be good for you," Remus. Always looking on the bright side of things.

"No Moony!" Sirius cried and seemed to knock something over, judging by a loud shattering of glass. He didn't seem to notice though. "This will be good for _us_! Girls _love _a man with power; just think of it you guys, all of us, naked..."

"I would prefer to be left out of the homosexual fantasies, thanks," James muttered, obviously annoyed.

"...and surrounded by hot girls! I swear to Merlin, this year's going to be the essence of mermaid's tits!"

There was a pause and then Remus muttered, "Seriously Sirius, I worry about you. Essence of mermaid's tits? Where do you come up with this stuff?"

"My mother once said I was born special," Sirius mused, trying to look profound and poetic. Then he frowned. "Actually, maybe special wasn't the _exact _word she used..."

"Seriously guys," James Potter's commanding voice interrupted Sirius. "Why in the name of Snivellus grease did Dumbledore pick me?" The sound of banging. "Me, of all people!"

A sigh and someone ordering food. It was getting harder and harder to eavesdrop on their conversation. "Professor Dumbledore probably thought you could... initiate some command over other students," Remus said quietly before coughing gruffly. "Loads of students look up to you, Prongs."

James seemed to laugh forcibly. "It should have been you, Moony. You should have been Head Boy."

A pause. "Nah, I wasn't much of a prefect. I couldn't even say no to you..."

"More importantly," Sirius interrupted and there was another loud bang. "Who's the lucky Head Girl?"

Lily froze. This was her moment. She could just walk over there and flaunt both her Head Girl's badge and her distaste of James in one go...

...Or. Or she could listen. She could find out if anyone else would be as surprised as she was to find out that Lily Evans was Head Girl. She could listen to their predictions for Head Girl- probably the insanely popular Marlene McKinnon. Or maybe snobby Zara from Hufflepuff.

So Lily sat quietly and strained her ears to listen.

"Yeah! Head Boy and Girl have to do nightly patrols together," Peter exclaimed and then sighed. "You're so lucky James. You're going to be alone with a girl, sharing her warmth, hopefully even cuddling..."

_"Cuddling_?" Sirius cried, incredulous. "Is that what you think you do with a girl when you get her alone?"

"Er...yeah?"

"Mother of...you have sexy time, you sod!" Sirius shouted obnoxiously, earning stares from an elderly muggle couple in the corner of the cafe.

"Sexy...time...what...erm...sexy...what?" Peter murmured, sounding completely confused.

There was a load of whispering that Lily's ears couldn't pick up, so she moved over to a closer table. She could clearly hear them and see them now, but she kept her head focused on her textbook. They would notice her the second they turned their heads.

She picked up the last of their whispering:

"...And you finish with a hula zig-zag thrust," Sirius finished triumphant. "As a personal touch, I dangle a rose from my ass cheeks."

"That's disgusting, Padfoot you bloody asshat!" his fellow Marauders groaned. Even they looked a little sickly and green by Sirius's version of 'the Facts of Life', and that was saying something.

"Yeah, yeah, be like that; I don't give a fungus," Sirius muttered. "But who is this mysterious Head Girl?"

"Ten Galleons says James shags her!"

Lily stifled a snort. Peter Pettigrew is sure as hell going to lose that bet.

"No he won't," Remus said casually. "Unless Lily Evans happens to be Head Girl. Which she probably will be. Actually, five Galleons says it's her."

Lily decided Remus Lupin was too nice to be a Marauder. But she also wanted to kill him too for saying she was going to shag James. She'd rather go on a romantic date with a Swedish Short-Snout.

James seemed to immediately perk up and fumbled with his hair, before having his hand slapped away by Remus. "You think... Evans... might be Head Girl... I think I might actually really enjoy this job."

"It's more than likely... I mean she is..."

"Imagine if it was Marlene McKinnon! She's my bet; five Galleons says she's Head Girl!" Sirius shrieked maniacally, freaking out the waitress bringing their food. He shook Remus's hand, sealing their bet. "Or Rebecca Shelton? Or that girl I once saw in the Great Hall who was so hot..."

By now, Lily wasn't listening to the Marauder's conversation.

She was eyeing their food.

Remus had ordered some luscious-looking chocolate mousse, which he had begun to shovel into his mouth unmercifully. He now either had chocolate covering his face or a serious skin condition. No luck getting any of that.

Sirius had chosen a huge ice-cream sundae which he had decided to share with Peter, since he seemed to be waiting for his. Both were spooning it in a demonic fashion, spilling ice-cream all over the table and floor and infuriating the nearby waitress.

Sadly, only James's dessert looked edible to Lily. It was some sort of raspberry tart, with shortcrust pastry and freshly whipped cream on the side. James didn't look like he was eating it- maybe he was not hungry. Or was he too nervous to eat? However surprising Lily's thoughts were, they didn't stop her mouth from watering.

She had a choice. She could reveal herself and beg for some of James's delicious-looking dessert. Or she could walk with her head held high, ignoring her roaring, seemingly never full stomach.

Her stomach won out, as always.

So how would she go up to them? "I can't just go up to them and say hey; me and James are supposed to be fighting. Are fighting," Lily thought, correcting herself.

How would she casually do this? She was not known to be good at being casual... or friendly when it came to James freaking Potter.

Lily started to get up, picking up the shoulder bag she had brought with her and dropped her Ancient Runes textbook inside. Then she laid out some money on the table. She was going in there.

Merlin be with her.

"I'm just going over there to say hullo to Remus, yes... that's my excuse..." Lily thought to herself. "Then I'll swipe Potter's tart from him and..."

Merlin, however, did not seem to be with her that day. Maybe the universe just really got a kick out of tormenting her, as Lily had had many embarrassing moments in her life. Like that one time Peter Pettigrew tried to transfigure her into a duck, but she ended up in the Hospital Wing with feathers growing out of her hair and a beak coming out of her...never mind.

Or that time in Hogsmeade when she had one pint too many in the Hog's Head... James Potter said she molested him that night...

But none compared to this.

In that moment, Lily ran smack into a waitress. The waitress didn't seem to take it well; she screamed and lashed out over the pies she was holding, pushing Lily square in the chest as she tried to apologise.

So instead of eating yummy raspberry tart or even talking to the now gawking Marauders, Lily found herself rolling over a table and smashing onto the ground. And that's when the pie smashed into her face. The bloody universe had struck again.

Her head spun. Spinning Dumbledores and house elves danced across her eyes. Apologies went left and right as the waitress helped her up, nearly crying and sobbing out wails of fright, while Lily wiped away cream from her face. She had the weird urge to lick it off her face.

Lily's eyes then fixed on James. He was staring at her in complete and utter shock; his eyes bulging out from his head. He simply could not believe this had happened. The other Marauders looked equally dumbstruck, looking from Lily to James in hysterical head movements. Remus was shaking his head, while Sirius seemed to want to say something inappropriate. Peter, for some weird reason, looked mournful; it was probably his pie that was dripping from Lily's face.

The room was silent. Muggle heads swivelled around to stare. Lily was humiliated beyond relief.

"Erm...huh...um...hey, you guys..." Lily mumbled, trying to lean as casually as one can look with pie mushed all over their face. "How... what...I...see you guys!"

Lily couldn't take it. She couldn't scream or shout or lick any of the pie off her face in front of all these people. So she ran.

All the way to platform nine-and-three-quarters.

James Potter was Head Boy.

She had severely embarrassed herself in front of him.

She had pie in her hair.

And she didn't get any of the raspberry tart.

Lily Evans's day was only going to get weirder.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys; reviews are like chocolate... delicious chocolate... (actually I really would like some chocolate now...what was I saying?) Anyways, R&R! Thanks again to my beta Danae- I might prefer you to chocolate. Might.**

**I forgot to do a disclaimer on my last chapters, but seriously; we all know I don't own HP or any of the characters... otherwise I would be eating in my private chocolate factory right now.**

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**Chapter Three: An Afternoon with the Famous James Potter**

'_I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts.' -Herman Melville, Moby Dick._

"Hey Lily; heard you went smack-down in a Muggle cafe!"

"Yeah, Pettigrew's telling anyone who'll listen."

"Hey Evans, why do you have pie in your hair?"

"Don't mind them, Lil," Romona O'Sullivan murmured as she dragged an embarrassed Lily Evans through Platform nine-and-three-quarters. "Just think of it like this, you're Head Girl now; you can give them detention if you wanted to."

It was troublesome times like these that Lily was glad that Romona was her friend and not her enemy. Boy, that girl could elbow when she wanted to.

Romona O'Sullivan was one of the craziest, wildest girls in Hogwarts. A half-blood, once her muggle Irish father realised her mother was a witch, he decided on a whim to become a professional monster-hunter. He himself was yet to catch a single 'monster'. So Romona grew up with short, nest-like hair, a permanent grey smudge of dirt on her nose and a thirst to hunt out magical creatures. Most of the students and even some of the teachers were a little more than afraid of the wide-eyed, self-proclaimed 'monster-hunter'. Lily didn't even know how they became friends; but she was more than thankful for her friendship.

"Out of the way, people, Head Girl coming through!" she screamed, shoving a nearby fifth year into a pillar. The fifth year swore and aimed insults at Romona, but it didn't faze her; she hadn't gotten a fierce reputation for being nice to people.

"You would think Black would be related to her," Lily thought. "Not the calm, copacetic Remus Lupin."

"Are you fecking deaf? Head Girl coming through!" Romona yelled, pulling her tiny stature through a seemingly impenetrable wall of students and dragging Lily behind her.

"Oh no, you're not Head Girl..." a seventh year from Hufflepuff cried in dismay. "...are you, Romona? Please say you're not!"

Romona laughed, obviously not offended. "Nope, I'm not Zane- the bloody fabulous Lily Evans is!"

"Oh thank Merlin," the boy Zane sighed, relieved.

"I knew it!" a girl from Ravenclaw cried out, while a group of Slytherins muttered insults.

There was a sharp blow of whistles and suddenly everyone scrambled for the Hogwarts Express. Lily herself was thrown head first onto the carriage by Romona, who quickly leapt onto the train as it pulled away. Such a dignified entrance for a Head Girl.

"Hey, take it easy, Ro," Lily moaned, picking herself off the floor for the second time that day. "Wait Romona, where are your bags?"

"Oh someone will have got them," Romona replied cheerfully. She probably scared some third years into carrying her stuff.

"You know, you can't just... and she's gone," Lily finished sulkily as Romona sprinted full speed up the Hogwarts Express; nearly trampling the lady who pushed the food trolley, looking for an empty carriage. "Ro, we should wait for Dorcas!" she panted, stumbling after a laughing Romona. Sometimes Romona could act a little more than crazy.

"We'll find old Dora eventually," Romona yelled over her shoulder. She eventually stopped and yet even after all that running, she had barely broken a sweat. Unlike Lily; Merlin, she was unfit. She looked a mess; Lily made a note for the future that red faces and red hair do not go together. Ever. She didn't know how Romona could stand to go galloping through the fields of Ireland and rolling around in puddles of mud, looking for wild Auguries and leprechauns during the holidays. "...look she's in here with..." Romona fell silent; that was never a good sign. "...she's in a compartment with... with _her._"

Lily tensed. It was no secret in Hogwarts that Romona O'Sullivan and Marlene McKinnon could not stand each other. No one, not even Lily, was sure how their bitter feud began but everyone was sure that it would not be ending soon.

Lily thought it was because they were polar opposites. Romona was a loud, mouthy girl who preferred running around with unicorns to looking pretty or doing well in her studies. Marlene was, however, the quiet beauty queen of Hogwarts. One of the brightest students at Hogwarts, this Ravenclaw was known as the Ice Queen; she was never really friendly,but she was never short of admirers- both male and female.

"I'm _not _going in there," Romona grunted, crossing her eyes in a fit of anger. "Not for Phineas's piggy tail."

Lily sighed, exasperated. She reckoned she was nearly always exasperated around Romona. "Come on; there are no other compartments free and Dorcas's waiting for us."

"Why is Dora even talking to her anyway? We had a deal... a sister pact!" Romona muttered, scowling as she watched Dorcas and Marlene chattering away earnestly. "_A sister pact_!"

"Romona, shut up and get in there _now_!"

Romona shook her head and had a tantrum so violent that both Marlene and Dorcas looked up from their conversation. Marlene did not help the situation; she glared at Romona and flicked her curly, blonde hair the way that annoyed Romona greatly. Romona returned the flick and the glare with a scowl.

"No way; let's grab Dora and look for another compartment," Romona looked down the hallway. "I think the one the Marauders are in can fit three more..."

"No, no!" Lily screamed desperately. "We're staying here!" She shoved Romona into the compartment and tried to follow her respectably with the ounce of pride she had left.

Both Dorcas and Marlene were staring at them as Romona scrambled to her feet, staring daggers at Marlene and angrily stomping to her seat in a huff. It was up to Lily to defuse the situation.

"Hullo Dora! Wow you're so tanned after your trip. How was it, by the way?" Lily stammered, her words jumbling together as she spoke. She sounded like a spastic Niffler.

"It was fascinating, Lily dear," Dorcas gushed in her sweet, childlike voice. "Peru was especially marvellous; we got to see where the secret Incan wizards practised their magic!"

"Wow, that's really... fascinating," Lily said. Dorcas was the final part of their crazy little gang of three and she was by far the calmest. Unlike Romona, she enjoyed sitting inside catching up on homework, making tea, knitting sweaters for her mates and not chasing around Ashwinders in the Forbidden Forest. She also didn't get anxious or go completely insane like Lily did every once in a while. Boys literally sighed over her sweet disposition and kindness- whereas the only boys Lily could attract were messy haired sods with attitude problems. She was also the person Lily would go to with a problem, not Romona.

Lily turned to Marlene."Marlene, how are you? Did you have a good summer?"

Marlene had been looking blankly out the window and turned her head to face Lily when she spoke; her blonde ringlets bouncing, clearly startled. "Well,I didn't really do much over the summer," she mumbled, her words slightly awkward and jerky. Then she perked up and gushed; "Though I did visit my grandparents in Scotland. That trip was amazing..." She seemed to realise that she had gotten carried away and slumped back into her seat, her brown eyes downcast.

There was an awkward silence where no one said a word, though Marlene and Romona continued to try to kill each other with their eyes.

Lily shot Dorcas a pleading look for help, but Dorcas seemed to be in some sort of happy trance; probably day-dreaming again. Dorcas was notorious for day-dreaming. Lily was stumped. They couldn't go on like this, not all the way to Hogwarts, not...

"So you're Head Girl, Evans?"

Lily looked up at the sound of a crisp, clear voice. Marlene was pointing at the gleaming badge hanging dangerously from her jumper.

"Erm... yeah... though I really don't know how..." Lily explained, trying desperately to show Marlene that she was sorry for taking her position. "... though I really thought you'd get it, Marlene."

For the first time since they were all puny little second years, Marlene's blank expression changed to one of complete surprise, while Romona looked furious. "Me?" Marlene said, astonished. "You thought I would be Head Girl?"

Now it was Lily's turn to be surprised. "Yeah, everyone thought you would be Head Girl. Everyone in school adores you and practically stalks you everywhere, you get amazing grades- which is more than can be said for me- and all the teachers approve of you. I thought the choice was pretty much a given, so...ow!"

Romona had chosen that exact moment to stamp really hard on Lily's foot. Romona expected her to help with her Marlene-McKinnon-hate-campaign and was furious with Lily for being friendly instead of stonily silent. Through her watery eyes, she could see Marlene go red and give a genuine laugh. "That's nice of you Evans... thanks, I guess." Her smile faded. "Though, you do know the Head Boy and Girl have to meet up at the top compartment of the train with old Sluggie, right?"

During all the strange happenings of that very strange day, Lily had forgotten that the Head Boy and Girl had to meet Professor Slughorn for a briefing- which included lunch in the Slug Club- and then had to patrol the corridors for a while. She had missed the briefing and half the dinner already.

"Merlin's nostril!" she cried as she tore open the door and legged it full speed down the corridor.

She had already neglected- or forgotten- her responsibilities as Head Girl. On the first day of the job. She was probably going to be the worst Head Girl ever; next she would be running off into the Forbidden Forest for kicks.

"Is there a prize for neglecting Head Girl duties half an hour after stepping on the Hogwarts Express?" she cursed to herself as she narrowly missed trampling over a group of terrified first years.

And then there was that; she would have to eat, talk and patrol with... James... Potter. No wait, she would have to do that every day and night she spent at Hogwarts.

But the worst thing was, he probably actually showed up for the briefing! And she didn't! She, the long serving Gryffindor prefect, had forgotten her duties and notorious prankster James Potter hadn't!

Finally, she made it to Slughorn's private compartment. She had once gone to a Slug Club meeting on the train before and after that unpleasant experience, had made numerious excuses not to attend again. She usually said that she was trying to improve her studies- which she normally was. At least there would be food there.

Lily steeled herself and threw open the door.

Everyone at the crowded table looked up. Professor Slughorn looked mildly confused; she politely declined his Slug Club invitations so frequently that he had not bothered to send her one this year.

Oh yes, there was Heather the fourth year from Ravenclaw; she inclined her head towards Lily... that fifth year boy from Hufflepuff who gave Dorcas a rose on Valentines Day... that Slytherin who once threw a Dungbomb at her face... that third year whose father was high up in the Ministry... the Slytherin Mathilde Skitter, some famous reporter's niece...the Prewett twins...

...Black? What was he doing here? He always refused, like...

Oh. He obviously came to support Potter during this bloody... yeah, there was Potter, sandwiched between Sirius and Fabian; a yummy chocolate truffle frozen halfway to his gob.

Slughorn broke the silence. "Miss Evans, so lovely to see you! Though I don't remember inviting you this year..."

Lily knew she had gone as red as her hair. "Well... I'm... Dumbledore must have told you..." She stopped, unable to say another word. She hoped Slughorn understood what she was trying to say.

Fortunately he did; his pudgy face lit up. "Merlin's beard, of course! You're Head Girl this year!" His watery eyes brightened as he tapped his temple. "I always knew you were destined for great things, Miss Evans. Come along, sit down!"

Lily hurriedly made her way to the only available seat between Gideon Prewett and Slughorn himself and collapsed into it, incredibly embarrassed. She avoided eye contact and instead dug into a slice of delicious chocolate cake, shovelling it with a fork into her mouth. She had not eaten in nearly two hours; to Lily, this was called starvation.

Naturally Slughorn chattered on. "So Fabian, how is your older sister coping with... another... baby to look after?"

"Yes little Percy is nearly two now..." Fabian mumbled back.

Slughorn clapped his hands. "Oh wonderful, wonderful! Isn't it amazing that..."

Lily looked up from her cake to find James staring at her, two places down, across the table.

"...it's just incredible... I could very well be teaching him in a couple..."

She mouthed a 'what' in his direction and scowled. Bloody prick.

"...and to find that in each other; that Weatherby man is one lucky..."

James just raised his eyebrows. Lily again mouthed another, 'what, Potter?' and raised her eyebrows in response.

"...funny... I don't remember teaching him... did he attend Durmstrang by any chance?..."

James mouthed 'nothing, Evans' and then winked. Winked! She was incredulous and dug her fork deep into the remaining meager bit of cake, fuming.

"Miss Evans, are you quite alright?"

Lily looked up at Slughorn, startled, her anger draining away. "Oh, I think I just need some air." She got up from her seat, ready to leave.

"Good, I think it's about time you and Mr. Potter here began your patrols- good thinking!"

Bloody crackers.

She watched James rise from his chair slowly, as if he was relishing the moment. Lily tried to keep her face as blank as possible; it was difficult.

They walked together in silence, not talking and barely touching. By the time they had reached the second carriage, Lily was desperate for any kind of conversation.

Even with James Potter, of all...

"So Lily Evans; Head Girl, huh?" James said, interrupting her thoughts. "Just another achievement to add to the list, right?"

Lily blinked. "What are you talking about, Potter?"

"Well, you're _the_ Lily Evans," James proclaimed, goofily pretending to knight Lily while she rolled her eyes. "Head Girl, former prefect, pie eating champion..." That remark earned him a slap from Lily. "...Hogwarts Best Drunk 1977..." Another slap. "And outstanding student..."

"What?" Lily exclaimed, flinging her hands wildly in the air and nearly knocking a second year's tooth out. "You really thing I'm smart? Well guess what, Potter; I may be the first Head Girl ever to completely fail a subject." She felt her shoulders sag and her eyebrows crease.

It was true; she had almost failed Defence Against the Dark Arts last term and Lily had spent all summer moping about it. Sure she had never failed an important class so badly before and Professor Swott had been greatly disappointed with her last year. He said Lily had not been trying hard enough with the coursework and her marks last year did not correspond to her Exceeds Expectations O.W.L. - which was a total fluke in her opinion. If she would only...

"What subject are you failing?" James asked earnestly, before flushing red and looking away. It seemed he had an idea.

Lily frowned; James Potter having an idea nearly always spelt trouble. And trouble usually meant detention. "Defence Against the Dark Arts... why?" She was suspicious. Was he going to tease her about her incompetence in magic? Or maybe hex her like he had in third year with some...

"...Because I could help you... you know... with the coursework... if you wanted..." James said cautiously, as if he was about to walk across a floor of broken glass. For some reason, he had his hand curled into a fist.

Gobsmacked, Lily forgot to be cold with James for being a better Head Boy than she was Head Girl. Was James Potter actually doing something nice for her?

"Like... like a tutor?" she asked, a little more than confused. "Well, yes that would be great actually... you got an Outstanding in your O.W.L. for Defence Against the Dark Arts, right?"

James nodded, looking pleased that she was slowly accepting the idea.

"Alright... thanks... Potter... but why are you...?" Lily asked, trying to find the right words, but failing miserably.

"... helping you?" James replied, casually catching a runaway, tubby cat and returning it to its awestruck owner. "Well... it's a, um... dangerous... world... at the moment... you know, the subject is... important and stuff, you know... Death Eaters and stuff..." Lily could tell he was babbling- the great, confident James Potter was babbling!- but she hadn't the faintest idea why. "Look, I don't want you to get yourself killed or something for not being able to sodding defend yourself properly."

At first, Lily was astonished, and weirdly a little pleased, that James actually cared about her well-being, of all people. He was usually the one hexing her in the corridors or asking her to meet him for a midnight rendezvous in the Forbidden Forest. He was the one who usually led her into danger, not the one dragging Lily by her heels away.

Then she got angry.

"So you don't think I can fight, Potter?" Lily cried angrily. "Look, I know I need help with the coursework, but I can still fight, no matter how many Muggleborns Voldemort's threatening to round up!"

James had a mixture of fright, awe and pleasure written on his face. For a while, he didn't say anything until they had finished their patrol; he just kept stealing furtive glances at Lily as they walked.

Finally he broke the silence; "Look, I'm sorry Evans; I didn't mean to imply anything," James began, a mournful expression evident on his face. Then he smirked. "You're the toughest witch I know- believe me, I know." Then his smile fell. "But I'm still free if you need help- just ask, okay Evans?"

Again? James Potter was being nice to her for the second time that day. This was too weird.

When they finished their patrol, he stalked off towards the Marauders's compartment, his hands in his jeans pockets. But just before he opened the door, he turned and said, "Hey Lily, did you keep the remembrall?"

Still in a confused trance, Lily just nodded her head.

Grinning arrogantly, James opened the door slightly. "Did it ever turn red?"

And just like that, Lily Evans once again hated James Potter.

Her face flushed red and fuming, she flipped him off and stalked away, determinded to wipe the memory of James Potter's brief moment of generousity out of her mind.

Though she couldn't quite forget that he had called her by her first name.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey everyone!**

**Now I know it's been a long time, but I have an excuse. A really crappy excuse. Let's just say it involves a camping school trip, an iPhone (where I write this fanfic), a river and a really stupid tree root that got in my way. I'll let you fill in the gaps.**

**I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed the story! It means a lot (especially reviews!) and keeps me from thinking about how my phone and ideas are now entertaining freshwater fish.**

**-Ash**

**Disclaimer: Blah, blah, I obviously don't own this, blah, blah, not JK Rowling, blah, blah, FANTASTICBEASTSANDWHERETOFINDTHEMOHMYGOSH!**

**Next it'll be a Marauders film, guys. x**

* * *

**Chapter Four: If You Love The Bunnies, Lily Will Love You**

"Well... I bloody blew it."

Remus Lupin sighed and put down the Daily Prophet, not really content with reading it anyway. James had stalked into the Marauder's compartment at the end of the Hogwarts Express in a huff, almost stamping on Peter's foot and flung himself on a chair. James Potter had once again failed to charm Lily Evans - what else was new?

"Hey guys, can I borrow... what the..." Frank Longbottom said as he slid open the compartment door, only to be interrupted by a distraught and seemingly emotionally fragile James.

"No one cares Frank! The world doesn't care, the universe doesn't care! NO ONE CARES ABOUT US NICE GUYS FRANK!"

Remus held up his hands in mock surrender, as Frank slowly backed out of the compartment. "Wow, James... I wonder what got your wand in a twist..." Remus frowned, feeling like something was missing. Or someone. "And where's Sirius?"

"That wasn't very nice Prongs; I mean, Frank's a nice..." Peter began while staring at a mournful James Potter.

"_Lily Evans_!" James interrupted again, banging his head violently against the nearby window. Peter jumped, annoyed that he had been interrupted, while Remus looked on, amused. "I did everything you sodding said, Moony! I resisted touching my hair and I didn't ask her out bluntly and she_ still doesn't bloody like me!"_

Now Remus was worried. James had a reputation for doing stupid, crazy things when Lily turned down his amourous advances or yelled that she hated him. Like running off to Somalia to become a pirate or that time he decided to channel his problems into cooking feasts with the Hogwarts house elves.

Never had Hogwarts seen such a violent case of food poisoning. Remus shuddered when he remembered that day.

"Look James, she just needs time," Remus said desperately. "No need to be hasty, James... she doesn't understand yet that you've changed and gotten... no, James, don't open that... _get away from that window James Potter!"_

By that moment, James was already leaning halfway out the window and looking absolutely miserable. Remus was frantic; usually Sirius dealt with James's episodes and sometimes, when he felt like it or when it didn't offer any hilarious situations, talked him out of them.

"Stop, stop, you absolute sod! I'll give you chocolate! James, get down here right now!" Remus cried, thinking it was like talking to a disagreeable child. "Look, you just need to be patient, James... she'll come round, you'll see!"

"Goodbye Moony, my dear friend," James said, trying to be as dramatic as possible while hanging out a window. He then addressed Peter, who was staring at James in absolute awe. "Goodbye, Wormy - I'm glad you agree with my act of sacrifice."

"I don't agree with it Prongs," Peter whispered, as if he were in a trance.

"See, Wormy agrees with me!" James exclaimed, evidently ignoring everything Peter and Remus just said. "Goodbye world; I leave you because Lily Evans hates me."

"No James, stop right..."

"_James Potter!_" Sirius screamed, after throwing open the door with a clang. "What have I told you about jumping out of moving vehicles? Do you want your mother to hear about this?"

Everyone was startled; even Peter stopped sulking for a moment to look at Sirius with shock.

"That can't be Sirius's way to stop James doing shit all this time," Remus thought. "There's no way... it's pathetic... he so wouldn't..."

"Yes, sir," James muttered, pulling his head back into the compartment and closing the window behind him.

"_What? _Are you _kidding me_?" Remus cried, incredulous, as Sirius sat on the chair opposite him. "A threat about your mother - who is elderly and miles away - gets you to stop jumping out the window?"

James just looked at Remus like he was the one who was nuts. "Are you crazy? You've met my mother; you know what she's like."

"For the love of Merlin's underwear," Remus murmured, picking up the dreary Daily Prophet again. At least the articles didn't try to jump out the window.

"Anyways, I abandoned Lisa Zimmer's lips to tell you that I have figured out Lily Evans's ultimate weakness," Sirius said, putting on a business-like voice.

James, and Peter perked up. Remus just rolled his eyes; he would rather play spin the bottle with Professor Flitwick and Slughorn than take any kind of 'love' advice from Sirius Black. "Really Pads?" James cried, his eyes shining. "What is it?"

"Wow Padfoot, you're so good at... at doing things," Peter exclaimed, almost mesmerised. Remus chuckled behind his paper; obviously the others weren't as catious with accepting advice from the self proclaimed 'love guru'.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sirius said knowingly, tapping his nose. "It's... bunnies."

There was a tense silence, broken by Remus's incredulous chuckling.

"Oh sure, of course you think it's ridiculous Moony; but you're on your period anyway," Sirius exclaimed, as Remus fought the urge to slap Sirius. He always fought that urge anyway. "Girls _love_ bunnies; Merlin, everyone bloody loves bunnies. If my animagus form..."

"...in the name of all things sacred, don't speak about _that_! Shhh!"

"...wasn't a dog, I would so be a bunny - I'd get tons of chicks," Sirius finished, ignoring Remus's distress over mentioning their forbidden topic in a -slightly- public place. "In all the _m__uggle _magazines, it says girls adore bunnies. Lily Evans is a _muggle_born. See my logic here? Lily will love you if you love the bunnies!"

Remus was laughing. Never in his life had he heard such a ridiculous theory - saying Lily Evans liked bunnies was one thing, but claiming that it was her ultimate weakness was another.

"That is... sodding brilliant, Pads," James breathed, clapping his hands together. "Genius, really. Of course it's her..."

"Food!" Remus cried out suddenly against his own conscience, startling his fellow three Marauders. "Lily Evans's greatest weakness is food, James."

"What?"

"You knew this whole time... _and you didn't tell_ _me_?"

"How do you know that, Moony?"

Remus sighed and prayed that Lily wouldn't kill him for saying this. "Look, all I know is she only ever talked about two things when we patrolled the grounds together as prefects; how much of a prick she thought you were, James and food. Mostly chocolate," Remus said, remembering them talking about all things chocolate in fifth year. Good times.

"I still say bunnies, Remus," Sirius said stubbornly.

"No Sirius, it's food!"

"Bunnies!"

"Chocolate!"

"No guys, isn't it obvious?" Peter interrupted. "Lily Evans's ultimate weakness is... Snivellus."

"Don't be stupid, Wormy," James muttered darkily. "Lily isn't friends with that bloody prat anymore."

"Yeah, but then why in the name of butterbeer was she friends with him for five years?" Peter said, mimicking Sirius's earlier movement of tapping his nose.

"...you're right, Wormy," James pondered. He stood up from his seat and stared out the window over-dramatically. Peter looked like he wet himself over James's compliment. "There's only one thing to do; we'll have to spy on Lily."

Remus shook his head violently as he was dragged to his feet and shoved under James's invisibility cloak. "No, no, no! No, James," Remus cried out, struggling feebly to escape from Sirius's iron grasp. "I'm not doing this; I am _not _doing this! You know how we talked about good things and bad things? Well, this is a _bad thing, _James!"

"Quiet Moony!" James whispered under the cramped cloak, scuttling together down the train. "We're almost to her compartment."

Remus was vaguely aware that their ankles were showing and Peter was leaning outside the cloak in such a way that parts of him were being seen that should not be seen. By anyone. _Ever._ No one passed them, however, and they arrived at Lily's compartment without any _major _mishaps. James slid open the door quietly and slowly, so they could hear parts of the girl's in the compartment's conversation.

"Mother of Merlin, Lily's talking to Marlene McKinnon!" Peter squeaked excitedly, only to be shushed by the others.

Marlene McKinnon was literally the only person in their entire year who Sirius had tried to charm, but failed. Miserably. Peter had even had a go... Remus remembered that depressing night after she had turned him harshly down all too well. Drunk Peter was a little too touchy and grabby.

"Who are the others?" Sirius whispered, licking his lips. Remus fought the urge to vomit.

"Well, that's my second cousin Romona: you know the one who sprained your ankle last year? Remember her? Oh and you are not allowed to date her," Remus said disapprovingly, pointed at the dark haired, dark eyed girl with a furious look on her face. "Actually she would rather wrestle Grindylows than date you."

"No, no... I know who she is...believe me..." Sirius said, scowling and remembering a quite unpleasant memory. "No, the other one; is that...Dorcas Meadows?"

"Yeah, why?" James muttered, trying to listen to Lily's conversation instead of Sirius.

"She has gotten _hot _over the summer!" Sirius exclaimed rather loudly, only to be elbowed harshly by James.

Remus snickered. "I think you'll see that she won't find your charms irresistible, Sirius."

"I'll bet you ten galleons that she will snog me by the end of the school year," Sirius said, smirking wildly and looking proud. "No one can resist my charms- not even straight men, cucumbers and bunnies."

"You're on, Lady Killer."

"Shhh!" James said, suddenly looking very interested in the girl's conversation in a narcissistic fashion. "Lily's talking about me!"

So the Marauders shut up and once again Remus wondered why they seemed to always begin every school year peeping on Lily Evans.

"So he's Head Boy, huh?" Marlene drawled, her expression as blank as usual, giving nothing away.

Lily was quite the opposite- she let her emotions play out on her face. She looked livid and was scrunching her red hair up so wildly, it looked like she was trying to tear it out. Her hands were clenched at her sides and her green eyes seemed to glow dangerously in her fury.

"It's my worst nightmare!" Lily moaned, while the smirk on James's face vanished.

Sirius patted him gently on the back. "I don't think you're in, mate."

"Or maybe Lil it's better than your wildest dreams!" Romona squealed, seemingly bouncing up and down giddily on her seat, her messy hair sticking up in disheveled spikes. Merlin, she was embarrassing to be related to.

Lily turned bright red at the comment and proceeded to push Romona face first into the window. "I do not like James Potter, alright?" she said and then settled back into her seat, reading the Daily Prophet.

"Sounds to me like she's in denial," Peter whispered in a sing-song voice.

Dorcas leaned over Lily's shoulder, trying to take a peek at the newspaper. "Anything good?" she asked hesitantly, as if Lily might bite her head off.

Lily visibly softened at the sound of Dorcas's soothing voice. While being Romona's friend clearly damaged Lily's mental stability, being Dorcas's healed her. "Look's like the Prophet has finally got some new news on Voldemort," Lily said, only to be interrupted by Romona's terrified hiss and Dorcas's gasp. Once again, only Marlene looked unfazed. "What the bloody hell is it now?" Lily demanded, obviously confused.

"_Don't speak his name!" _Romona hissed. Once again, Remus thought how embarrassing she was to be related to. "They say You-Know-Who knows who says his name and then kills them!"

"Ro, you are such a wimp," Lily replied calmly, keeping one eye on the Prophet. "That rubbish is probably made up by Death Eaters... oh stop shaking Romona, you sod!"

Marlene laughed harshly at Romona's obvious fear, then snapped back into her mask of indifference and quiet demeanor.

All James could say throughout the entire discussion was, "Lily is so bloody amazing; look, she just _dissed _Voldemort! And Death Eaters! Oh Merlin, she's bloody brilliant!"

Sirius began to smile evilly. "Prongs, my dear, I can't help but noticing that you are getting little too excited about Lily's bravery right now..."

"Pads, I swear to Merlin, I will fucking use the silencing charm..."

"Maybe," Sirius continued evilly, his voice getting louder and louder, "You have a little too much excitement building up...ow!"

In that moment, James punched Sirius in the gut to shut him up. Unfortunately, this made him howl in pain and when James put his hand over Sirius's to stop the screaming, he bit down on James's finger.

"Ow, you bloody git!" James shouted, watching as purple bite marks appeared on his hand.

"What on earth was that?" Romona cried, sticking her head out the door and narrowly missed spotting the Marauders's exposed feet, while Sirius continued to howl.

"Probably the three twits and Remus down the hall," Lily replied, not even looking up from the paper. "Ignore them."

By now, Sirius was being held by Remus and Peter, while James pointed his wand at his mouth.

"_Silencio_!" he murmered and in an instant, Sirius stopped yelling or speaking at all. In Remus's opinion, it was what the world needed; at least for a few moments anyway.

"Finally," Dorcas whimpered as she sat back in her seat, her legs crossed underneath her. "Speaking of all things dark, weird and Death Eater, how's the beloved Severus Snape?"

Both James and Lily's expressions went dark at the mention of Snape's name. This was it; it was time to test Peter's theory.

"Haven't seen or heard from the git all summer," Lily announced coldly, not even bothering to look up from the paper. "And I hope he fails all his classes. Prat."

James breathed out a sigh of relief. Peter looked mournful; it was clear from Lily's horrendous dissing attempt that she had no appearant feelings towards Severus Snape. Remus knew that James had always feared that Lily harbored secret feelings for him.

"He can prance around with Voldemort all he likes; I don't give a flying rat's ass," Lily muttered darkily, when Romona gave out another squeak of fright, her dark eyes wide with fear.

"That's twice now! That's twice!" Romona shouted wildly. Lily didn't even turn away from her paper. "He's going to come kill you twice..."

"Hush! Listen to this," Lily said, muffling Romona's shouts with her hand. "The Ministry of Magic has confirmed today that over ten Ministry of Magic workers have gone missing during the past fortnight. It has also been confirmed to be the work of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's group of followers, the Death Eaters and all the missing workers are said to be muggleborn."

"'He most certainly will try to recruit some powerful muggleborns to his cause,' says a Ministry spokesperson today. 'But unfortunately, due to these recent findings, most will most likely be... murdered...on sight.'"

Lily folded up the paper without finishing the rest of the horrible article to cries of fury from her friends. Even Marlene looked upset.

"Don't worry Lily; he won't get you!"

"You're too smart to be attacked."

James looked furious. "If he tries to touch Lily," James snarled, scaring even the silent Sirius. "I will personally rip his head off."

"And on that violent note..." Peter muttered, but was cut off by Lily's unusually calm voice.

"Guys its okay; if Voldemort gets too powerful, I could just flee the country or something. Maybe to Switzerland... I hear they make good chocolate..."

Romona yelped. "That's three!" she whimpered. "He'll come after you three times now!"

"Oh, grow up Romona! Lily grunted roughly.

"No, you grow up Lily! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named grows stronger every day and you say I have to stay calm?"

"That's what he wants us..."

"Guys," Dorcas interrupted suddenly, unlike Marlene who had been busy enjoying herself watching Romona and Lily have a shouting match. "Is that a... floating ass... outside the door?"

Everyone inside and outside the compartment fell completely silent and looked confused. Then Remus realised Peter's ass was hanging outside the invisibility cloak.

"Peter! _Peter!_" Remus hissed, trying to pull Peter back inside. "Your ass is outside the cloak!"

"Fuck, Wormy get inside now!" James whispered angrily as he tried desperately to pull Peter inside the cloak.

The girls in the compartment frowned. "I think... the ass is... talking," Romona said, looking at the seemingly floating, talking ass in awe.

"I can't Prongs!" Peter squealed, fearful and almost crying. "Padfoot's blocking me!"

"Don't worry Wormy, you're doing great," James said gently, then turned to Sirius. "_For the love of all things magical,move Pads!"_

Sirius, who was still silenced, folded his arms and did not move an inch. He was seriously pissed off at being cursed and refused to move.

"Should we... should we bow?" Romona whimpered, awestruck before being slapped over the head by Lily.

"No, you twat!" Lily cried and her face turned pale. "No... this has the Marauders written all over it." She shot up from her chair and twirled round menacingly; looking under chairs and out windows. "Are you here now, huh? Using a disillusionment charm, are we? If you are, then I swear to Merlin that I will hex you until your face turns inside out!"

Remus gulped nervously. "We have to get out of here. Now."

James nodded, obviously terrified by the ferocious look in Lily's eyes. "Good idea, mate. Hold on." He pulled his wand out and focused it on Romona. "Sorry to do this to your cousin, Moony."

"Wait James, don't..."

"_Avis_!"

A flock of huge seagulls erupted from James's wand and swooped into the girls's compartment. Lily immediately ducked under Romona, who was the main target, and used her as a human shield. Dorcas just sat there, as if she was just too shocked to do anything.

But no one reacted more violently than Marlene. "Oh my god, oh my god, get them out! Get them _out_! GET THEM OUT!"

"I think this may be the moment to leave," James mumbled; even he was shocked by his own stupidity.

"Oh you don't say!" Remus cried as he and Peter dragged Sirius quickly down the hallway, away from the screaming girls, followed by James.

They all collapsed into their seats panting hard and threw off the cloak. The echoing screams from down the hallway died down.

"What...the...bloody hell...was that...James?" Remus panted while leaning against the window. Peter was too tired to even speak.

"What, it was a split second decision!" James muttered angrily. They had not discovered Lily's ultimate weakness and he was getting cranky.

"Remember how we talked about good things and bad things, James? Well this was an EXTREMELY bad thing!"

"I can't believe you did that to those girls Prongs," Peter said as he elbowed a silent and very pissed off Sirius. "Girls are like flowers James; beautiful, pure flowers James, that bloom in sunshine, unicorns and rainbows."

"Please don't tell me you're trying to write poetry again, Wormy," James groaned, exasperated as Peter scowled.

Yeah, Remus knew this was going to be a long year. A really long year.


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello, long time, no see everyone. I forgot to ask some time ago, when I last updated, whether or not I should do more Remus and maybe even some Sirius POV chapters? R&R, if you can, as it would be much appreciated.**

**Thanks again to my amazing beta, Danae and thanks to everyone who reviewed and favourited the story. You guys are why I continue to write this fanfic.**

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**Chapter Five- Dancing Queen**

Returning to Hogwarts usually meant different things for different people. For some, it was the chance to catch up with mates, for others it was being able to practise magic after a summer devoid of any abnormalities. For Lily Evans, however, it meant facing the inevitability of gossip. Sometimes it was good.

"Mother of Merlin, Lily, congratulations on being Head Girl!"

Other times it was bad.

"What in the name of Piddington has Lily Evans done with her hair?"

Lily trudged through the crowd, her head held high. She was so not going to listen to that silly little fifth year's comment. No way- she was a strong, confident seventh year...a confident...

Lily stopped by a window and glanced at her reflection. What on earth was wrong with her hair? She thought it had been looking pretty snazzy today; she had even remembered to brush it. Sure, it was a little on the wild side, but at least it wasn't as frizzy as it usually was. Lily turned around and caught the fifth year girl grinning evilly at her. Damn; she knew she had been staring at her hair.

With the little dignity she had left, Lily stiffly turned and returned to the Great Hall. The feast was already under way and the first years had been sorted- the shouts and tinkling laughter from every table was almost as pretty as the floating candlelight overhead, as soft as a warm blanket. The welcome feast was one of the reasons Lily loved her school. Aside from the magic, fun, classes and chocolate. Obviously.

So Lily almost punched an on-coming first year in the face when she saw her friends chatting amicably with James Potter and the Marauders at the Gryffindor table.

For as long as Lily had been at Hogwarts, the two groups had sat next to each other at the Gryffindor table for meals everyday. Only there had been an unspoken rule -initiated by Lily- not to talk to each other. True, sometimes Lily would talk to Remus for a bit or occasionally Romona would add a sarcastic comment to the Marauder's conversation. And yes, sometimes James would interrupt their conversation to ask Lily out or to make an inappropriate comment. But they would never properly talk to each other.

But there they were. The Marauders and a couple of traitors Lily called her best friends. Romona looked up, casually caught Lily's eye and winked. Winked! Romona just lived to get Lily into uncomfortable situations. Merlin, she was going to have to go over there.

Sulkily, she stalked over to the table, sat down beside Remus and across from the smirking idiot formally known as James Potter. God he was annoying; is it really that normal for a seventeen year old boy to have absolutely no pimples at all! Lily, for the past week, had been getting better acquainted with her zit and it had gotten to a point were it was no longer a skin imperfection, but a full-blown character flaw. As usual, his hair was absurdly messy; probably fluffing it up whenever he got the chance. Stupid git. And why was his glasses on side-ways? Why on...

"Are you done staring at my face, Evans?" James smirked and folded his arms behind his head. "I know I'm attractive, but please; keep your eyes in your pants."

Lily went red and started loading her plate full of food, like she usually did when she was embarrassed. She could hear Remus beside her make some sort of noise that was like a cross between a grunt and a sigh. Oh Merlin, he was laughing at her. Why oh why was James Potter such a pretentious asshat?

"So...that ABBA, huh?"

Lily looked up and saw James staring expectantly at her. It took her a moment to process the fact that he had asked the question, but more importantly JAMES POTTER KNEW ABOUT ABBA?!

Lily took a breathe and answered with what seemed to be the greatest way at the time to cover up her complete and utter amazement that James Potter -a wizard with absolutely no muggle ties what so ever- knew of a group that TUNEY listened to; "So?"

James seemed to swallow and look at the other Marauders; Sirius gave him a thumbs up, Peter nodded encouragingly and Remus put his head in his hands. "I like it."

It? Lily was a little more than confused at that moment. "Erm...yes they're great..." James seemed a little surprised that they were a 'they', and not an 'it', so Lily decided to give him some credit and provide him with a little more that one-word answers. "Which of their songs do you like?"

The group had gone silent- they were now just listening to Lily and James's conversation and it was then that Lily knew that she had asked the wrong question. James looked frazzled; he looked around, his eyes seemingly pleading with Sirius. Sirius shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, turning to Remus and poked him. And then Remus, not looking up from his hands, began to hum.

Daa daadaa daadaadaadaa daaaaaaa. Daa daadaa daadaadaadaa doooooo...

"AND YOU ARE THE DANCING QUEEN," James screamed at the top of his voice, suddenly remembering the words and stunning some of the Great Hall to silence. Many students stopped talking; some even stopped to stare with food halfway to their mouth. The first years seemed to almost want to join in- they probably thought this was what normal people in Hogwarts do and wanted to fit in. Even the professors looked up from their meals, seemingly amused. Or was it flabbergasted? Severus glared over as James pointed at Lily, oblivious to the atmosphere that he had created. "YOUNG AND SWEET, ONLY SEVENTEEEEEEEEEN! DANCING QUEEN, FEEL THE BEAT FROM MY TAMBOREEEEENE OH YEAH!"

And with that, James Potter turned a nice, popular song into a disgusting metaphor.

"James, JAMES!" Lily hissed desperately. "Sit down!"

James stopped and seemed surprised to see everyone staring at him. Apparently taking it as awe- struck stares, he smiled and waved enthusiastically before sitting down, ignoring the claps and the whistles. Some girls even sighed, which was just desperate.

"So you like Dancing Queen then James?" Lily smirked, ignoring that James was sweating a little bit after that performance and really ignoring that he actually looked really good all sweaty. "My older sister loves that song and she owns an assortment of pink go-go boots."

"What can I say, I'm comfortable with my sexuality. I think it takes a real man to stand up and admit 'I love Dancing Queen, pink lollipops from Honeydukes and bunnies!' Which reminds me Lily," James said as he glanced slyly at Sirius, raising his eyebrows. "Do you like bunnies?"

Lily stared at James, then Sirius, and finally talking to Dorcas. "Is that some sort of boy joke?" she said to Dorcas, who was sipping a milkshake. "Am I being made fun of?"

Dorcas shrugged and swallowed the pink mess she called 'a drink'. "I dunno... but I love bunnies!"

"Point proven..." Sirius mumbled.

"Bunnies... I don't think so..." Lily said, not really having anything against bunnies but just wanted to prove Sirius wrong at whatever the hell he thought he was right about. "I think I'm more of a dog and cat kind of gal."

James frowned. "What, you mean like a mutant cat-and-dog sort of thing?"

"Are you sure that exists, Lily?" Peter piped up, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Oh my gosh, that is such a good Christmas present idea!" Romona piped up, as the resident monster hunter should. Lord, she got way too excited when it came to mythical beasts.

"Yes, of course James I meant a dog-and-cat cross breed," Lily said sarcastically while rolling her eyes. "Because that's what I want most in the world."

"Really?" James cried, almost jumping off his seat. "Are you serious Lil?"

"I might be able to get you one of those!" Romona squealed and began talking animatedly to James about a cat-and-dog cross-breed found in Greece.

"Are you going to tell them you meant a dog or a cat?" Remus whispered to Lily, as James argued about the price of the dog-cat.

Lily found herself smiling fondly at the two squabbling idiots fondly and spoke before she could stop herself. "Nah, I don't have the heart to tell them. Let them find out it's not real."

While James and Romona squabbled like children, Lily silently gobbled down her chocolate pudding. She had almost been without chocolate for three hours; that was not healthy. She had been silently slurping down her chocolate, when she caught sight of James, Sirius, Peter and Remus staring directly at her; Remus seemed to mumble something about a point being proven but Lily couldn't really hear. Maybe they were making fun of her. Whatever- she didn't care. Much.

Not long afterwards it was time to bring the first years up to the dorms. Actually, Lily found it was more like leading a load of really hyper sheep away from places where they could fall to their deaths and so forth. Lily silently apologised to her old Heads from first year; if she had been that hyper on her first day to actually nearly wander face first into a spear, Merlin only knows how they handled it.

Surprisingly, James was quite good with the kids. No matter what the question was, he would try to answer as diligently and kindly as possible, which was a first for James.

"Sir, sir! What's that?" one little, excited first year squealed.

"Timothy, I told you you don't have to call me sir; I am not sixty years old," James would say, slightly amused. "And that is a magical floating staircase that moves and changes by itself."

"Wow," the boy beside Timothy whispered. "What's that, sir?"

"Leo, I'm not a professor, so don't call me sir!" James laughed, leading the way up the staircase to the common room. "Lily, tell them!"

Lily sighed and said, "Guys, James is not yet qualified to be called a 'sir'. He has to actually start growing facial hair to be qualified."

James was just about to protest when the gang of kids started screaming questions once again. "James, James! What's that, what's that, what's that?"

"Okay kids," James began, still a little miffed over the apparent dissing by Lily. "That's an enchanted painting, that's the third floor corridor -don't go there, kids- and that's the not-so-friendly gargoyle that poops sweets during Halloween."

"Wow... that is so cool!" the kids screamed in unison.

"Sir James, sir!" a little boy called Jeremy cried out, while James nearly choked. "What's that?"

"Ah, that Jezza dear, is a wall."

"A wall? As in an enchanted, singing wall? A wall with a secret portal to another dimension? A wall that shows you the secret of unicorns?"

"Just a wall, Jezza. Just a wall. Oh, hello there Fat Lady! Have good hols?"

Lily was too busy imagining a singing, unicorn wall to notice that they had reached the common room entrance. The Fat Lady had not changed much during Lily's six years at Hogwarts, only that she had gotten slightly fatter over the years and that she now drank a lot more wine to compensate the headaches caused by James Potter and co.

"James Potter," she slurred and let out a tiny, alcohol-fuelled burp. "Last year is it? Much better for my health."

"Oh my gosh," a few kids squeaked. "You can talk. You,_ a painting_, can talk."

"And so can you. Isn't the world just amazing?" the Fat Lady slurred irritably. "Password?"

"...em...right...fizzing whisbees?" Lily said after a moment's hesitation. Hopefully last term's password would still work.

"You may enter," the Fat Lady sighed, opening the small door before running off, probably to go drinking with her friend Violet.

The Gryffindor common room was, in Lily's opinion, the nicest in the school; unfortunately, Lily knew she may be a little biased. She hadn't even seen the inside of any other common rooms. Candles lay around the room, almost welcoming new and old Gryffindors alike home. Rolls of parchment lay over chairs, tables and even over the decorative gold and maroon lion's head over the mantelpiece. There weren't many students there; most usually went straight to the dorms to chat, mess or generally goof about on the first night. Only a few over-achieving fifth years lay scattered around the room and Ernest Rothwell, a very studious, and slightly psychotic, third year.

"And this, my little friends, is the common room. You'll find your dorm rooms up those stairs," Lily said, remembering when she first heard those magical words in first year. "Boys go up the stairs and you'll find your rooms to the left. Girls to the right. You'll find that you're belongings are already upstairs. Have fun."

And with that final sentence, the first years roared and stampeded up the stairs to there rooms. Merlin, they were a rowdy bunch this year.

"You sounded like you were born to say that," James said smoothly, still staring almost with longing after the horrendous mess they had made. Maybe he missed those years of rowdy immaturity. "I mean, you sounded pretty good."

"Hrm..." Lily grunted, turning away to make her way up the stairs to her dorm room.

"Wow, wow where are you going?" James cried out. "You didn't even kiss me goodnight, Evans!"

Lily smirked. "In your dreams."

"But aren't you forgetting something else, Lil?"

Lily stopped dead in her tracks. She remembered the message the quivering little second year had brought to her and James after she had finished her dessert at the Gryffindor table. "We have to meet with Dumbledore, which means..."

"Another hour with me as you escort!" James cried, as he grabbed Lily and dragged her out of the common room and onto the staircase.

"Hold up there, James," Lily panted; she knew she was unfit and it seemed that James knew it too, as he eventually slowed down. "So... how was your summer?"

James paused for a moment, then said, "Let's see, for most of the summer, me and Sirius did guy stuff."

"Guy stuff?"

"Yeah, you know," James explained, while turning down the corridor towards the horrendously ugly stone gargoyle. "Camping, fishing, stalking Wormy and Moony; the usual."

"Hey, you know girls can do that..." Lily started, then realised maybe it wasn't the best time to campaign for feminism. "Actually, why were you stalking Remus and Peter?"

"Well because Wormy's Gran wouldn't let us hang out with him because apparently 'we are a bad influence on him and his studies.' So naturally, we stalked him all summer."

"And Remus?"

James smirked as they reached the gargoyle. "Raspberry Bonbons," he muttered as the gargoyle spluttered to life and slid away to reveal a long, marbled staircase leading up to Albus Dumbledore's office. As the marched up the stairs, James answered Lily's question; "Oh, well, we thought it would be fun to stalk him, since he hates it when people sneak up on him and was busy 'studying' over the break. Obviously, he needed more fun in his life if he was resorting to working during the summer."

"Remus doesn't like people sneaking up on him?"

"Almost as much as he hates ill-kept books; sometimes he goes around cleaning people's old books with a little, tiny toothbrush in his spare time," James replied to a gob smacked Lily as he knocked rapidly on the office door. "Well, come along Evans."

Lily had only ever visited Professor Dumbledore's office twice in her life. The first was quite boring actually; she had been delivering a message from Professor McGonagall saying that Damien Avery had transfigured Peter Pettigrew into a bloodthirsty monkey for the sixth time that week during Lily's third year at Hogwarts and must be disciplined. Lily remembered what the other Marauders had done to Avery once they found out what he had done to 'their Wormy'.

Lily couldn't remember exactly what had happened during those brief five minutes in his office, but she knew she had been incredibly in-awe of the impressive Albus Dumbledore. So when her second time in his office at the start of sixth year was for less than pleasant circumstances, she was considerably distraught.

There had been an incident that involved the whole of Gryffindor's sixth years last year and unfortunately for Lily, she had been tangled in the middle of this mess.

Lily remembered Sirius exclaiming in the middle of the October Hogsmeade trip that he had created a new drink; a mixture of butterbeer, firewhiskey and liquid maple syrup.

"I shall call it 'Desperate Shag in a Skip'," he had whispered fiercely into Remus's ear.

After that, Lily didn't remember much; she woke up a day later with a pounding headache and bright, vomit green skin in the Hospital Wing, with the vague feeling that she was going to kill Sirius Black later.

Once she had came to, she had been escorted to Dumbledore's office, where she met another six, incredibly guilty-looking Gryffindors. One in particular (James) avoided her gaze fiercely.

Apparently, they had gone a little wild in Hogsmeade that night, including such activities as Sirius attempting to chat up Madame Rosmartha, the group painting the Hog's Head pub pink and Peter transfiguring a group of Slytherins into pigs. However, no one had noticed their troublesome activities until the Marauders decided to have a fist fight with, the one and only, Severus Snape and his gang of 'death eaters'in the middle of the Hogsmeade. Even though Lily had been off her head at the time, she knew that that fight obviously had not gone well. Both had ended up abandoning the fist fight for the more sophisticated method of hexing the crap out of each other. That's probably how Lily got her vomit green coloured skin.

All in all, they had all ended up together in Dumbledore's office, where the tension cut the air not really like a knife, but more like an out-of-control chainsaw. Professor McGonagall had shouted at them, had called them blithering, idiotic teenagers and told them they had disgraced their house. Not only that, she had also taken fifty house points for each person who had been involved, which included over four hundred points from her own house, and had banned them from attending the next Hogsmeade trip.

But the worst was when Dumbledore talked to them. He had not shouted, he had not screamed nor had he taken any house points from them, but instead he had asked them whether or not they had taken into account other people's safety while out there, gallivanting around Hogsmeade. He had wondered if, while they were drunk, they had possibly injured or hurt someone. That was his strategy; to make them feel so guilty and mortified that they would never do if again. And it worked. Lily herself couldn't stop staring off into space for days afterwards. Romona locked herself in her room due to a severely guilty conscience and didn't go to class for a week. Dorcas stopped drinking tea. It had been a nightmare.

However, Lily had been good for the rest of the year. She was allowed one slip up, wasn't she? She had been exceptionally good after that day, not even straying a toe out of line and avoiding Potter, Black and Pettigrew like the plague. Maybe that was why she had been chosen as Head Girl; it certainly wasn't anything to do with her grades.

But even though she was Head Girl, Lily couldn't stop the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she entered the greatest wizard who had ever lived's office. The last time she had been here, it had been such an utter fiasco.

The room -if it could have been called a room- was exactly the same as Lily remembered it. With the vast height of the ceiling, the room had a certain coldness and haunting feel to it; Lily remembered reading in Hogwarts: A History that the headmaster's office had been redesigned by the most unpopular Slytherin Headmaster in Hogwarts history, Phineas Nigellus. The paint work didn't help either – grey, grey and more grey, with just a splash of black to it.

However, Dumbledore seemed to have added a few of his own personal touches to the room. A small, brightly coloured pot sat beaming on his desk, containing a mountain of canary yellow sweets- sherbet lemons, Lily thought. An array of multi-coloured cloaks lay littered around the desk, all folded into neat piles. Stacks of books piled up on the desk, almost blocking the smiling wizard sitting behind him.

"James, Lily; how are you both?" Dumbledore said with a smile, moving a few books out of the way so he could actually see them both. "Sit down, please, if you may."

Automatically, they both sat down. Dumbledore had that kind of effect on people that they just did whatever he asked without questioning it and Lily was no exception.

They sat in complete silence for a couple of minutes, with Lily waiting for Dumbledore to say something, only he didn't- he just kept staring at them, his blue eyes darting from James to Lily, Lily to James.

Finally, just as Lily was about to get uncomfortable, James broke the silence; "Um, sir? I'm sorry, but why are we here? Are we in trouble?"

Dumbledore smiled and Lily thought she saw a slight twinkle in his eye. "Oh, James, do you really think every time I call you to my office that you're in trouble?"

James paused for a moment, and then replied; "Yes."

Then the greatest wizard in the world laughed and turned his attention to Lily. "I haven't seen you for a long time, Lily. Keeping out of trouble then?"

Lily couldn't help herself; she threw a look in James's direction and said, "I try, sir, but trouble just seems to follow me everywhere," to which James gave a crooked smile.

Dumbledore smiled, but then let his face drop into a serious expression. "Well, I've just called you here today to make sure you both understand your position as Heads of the school and the responsibility that comes with it."

James looked like he had to physically stop himself from rolling his eyes, turned to Lily and said, "Oh, I know all about responsibility, don't I, Lily?"

"You invented it James," Lily replied, her eyes not leaving Dumbledore's steady blue ones. "You were unjustly accused of all those silly pranks you pulled."

James nodded and returned to staring at Dumbledore, his hands clenched around his chair. "What kind of responsibility, sir?"

"Well, there is looking after the younger students, working closely with the professors to create a happy, safe school environment, the usual night time patrols and taking charge of all prefect meetings, of course," Dumbledore began, leaving their gazes for a moment to examine a bright, lime green cloak on the desk. "No, this certainly won't do... but, unfortunately, you two will have another responsibility the other previous Heads did not."

"Another... previous...responsibility...I'm sorry?" James spluttered, as if this was his worst nightmare. His expression had changed from a slightly amused one to an extremely unhappy one once Dumbledore began listing off the responsibilities he now had. Lily couldn't help but remember the look on James's face when he saw the first years recklessly and maniacally destroy the Gryffindor common room with glee, and for some reason, she felt an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. Maybe it was pity or guilt. It couldn't be anything else.

"Yes, my boy, I'm afraid you both are in charge of keeping students calm during these troubling times," Dumbledore said seriously, while tossing away the distraction of the lime green cloak and went back to staring at them intently. James bolted up straight and looked sort of excited. Lily couldn't help but know what this was about. "As you know, Voldemort and his anti-muggle followers are more dangerous than ever; there has been over a hundred murders during the past few months and I have a feeling that it's only going to get worse. The students of this school are only going to get more and more frightened, so it's your job to be a symbol of strength for the students. React appropriately to situations and set a good example for the other students. Plus, it's good for the students to see a so-called 'pure-blood' wizard working alongside a so-called 'muggleborn' witch. It goes against everything Voldemort preaches and all of his anti-muggle propaganda."

Lily felt her shoulders droop in the silence that followed Dumbledore's speech. "So I was only chosen then because I was a muggleborn?" It explained everything, she supposed; why she was chosen instead of plenty of much worthier people, why some were surprised by her position. James had obviously been chosen because he was smart, popular and he had proved himself on a number of occasions that he was good in a fight. But her? Well, apparently her only accomplishment was being born a muggleborn.

James seemed to be about to open his mouth to say something, but Dumbledore cut across him; "My dear child, of course not; you were chosen because you have an ability that Voldemort fears above all else. In fact, you both do." Then he smiled and seemed to glance at something above their heads. "Well, would you look at the time! You both must be exhausted! Please, return to your rooms for a good night's sleep; the real work begins tomorrow."

No! What was her secret ability that Voldemort feared! Was it invisibility? Super strength? Explosions that rippled out from her nose? Dumbledore wouldn't leave her guessing like this...

But he did. He hurried them both outside the door, down the stairs and bid them a quick goodnight. Then Dumbledore turned and returned up the stairs, leaving the two of them staring after him.

James turned to Lily; "What do we do now?"

"I guess we just wait..."

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**R&R** **everyone! I hope to update soon but unfortunately I have exams soon so...yeah. **

**-Ash**


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